


Your Love Is Like A Car Crash

by HDH0111



Series: All The Gold Sold At The End Of The Rainbow [6]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Divorce, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Female Friendship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love, Love Confessions, Marriage, National Women's Soccer League, US Women's Soccer National Team, Women's Professional Soccer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2020-12-16 07:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21032654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HDH0111/pseuds/HDH0111
Summary: Julie's life turned upside down, so she went on a trip across the states, always staying with one (or more) of her USWNT teammates. Now her plane touches down in Orlando (Florida), where she meets her friend Alex Morgan after some months apart because Julie didn't attend the previous two National Team friendlies. Also there's been a huge public announcement those two women have to talk about, which truly shocked the world of pro sports. Last but not least, a major twist of fate is just around the corner and will bring Julie & Alex closer together.





	1. Darkest Side of Winter Park's Finest Day

**Author's Note:**

> [Hey guys, thanks for stopping by. Please be aware that I'm no native English speaker so some phrases and word constructions might sound odd to you. I hope you still get the meaning though.]
> 
> “I creeped in close enough to see the way he touched her  
From her feet across her knees inside her sweetest spot  
He pleased and pleased her  
I turned around and tried to take control, but no control was capable  
It was a centerfold of how less than low can possibly go”

**Julie’s POV:**

It’s been nearly four months since Julie had last seen my former teammate Alex Morgan before they all left for their well-deserved winter break during the NWSL off-season. The two women weren’t talking much back then, both too focused to get back to their families and lead a seemingly normal life until the next season would reel them back into the busy pro athlete schedule. Back then Julie couldn’t have pictured herself as slaughtered, worn-out and devasted as she was today when her plane touched down at Orlando International Airport. Usually she wasn’t afraid of taking flights, but everything had changed and her whole body and mind weren’t used to having time to relax anymore, so her knees were shaking slightly when she got off her seat and grabbed the navy-blue sports bag from the shelf above the passengers’ heads. She didn’t pack anything else than this rather small carry-on luggage because her friend Alex told her they could go shopping together during Julie’s stay. Going on a shopping spree didn’t sound like a bad idea to the blonde, especially after the past couple of months. Let’s say, Alex didn’t have to force her to agree to this plan.  
As Jules stepped off the plane and walked through the long, sunlit corridors of the airport, which she had known from her away games already, her heart ached even worse than when she boarded in New Jersey. She had stayed at Carli Lloyd’s house for a week prior to her visit to Alex and Servando’s home today, but unfortunately Mrs. Ertz was rather restless these days and knew she wouldn’t stay in one place for too long until she got back to her weekly schedule with the Chicago Red Stars in the next soccer season starting April 2020.

  
“Julie!”, Captain Morgan yelled from across the packed hall. The blonde’s eyes roamed around, looking for her friend and finally found her waving in front of the huge glass wall in the waiting area. As soon as they got close enough, the two women greeted each other with a tight hug, Alex’s arms wrapped around Julie’s neck. For once the blonde midfielder felt a bit less stressed out about life while her friend’s embrace seemed to hold the world together on its own for a moment.

  
“Hi Alex. Thanks for picking me up”, Jules greeted the brunette and pulled her closer with the arms around her hips. As they loosened their embrace, they smiled in excitement. “I’d never let you take an Uber or anything. You know me. How was the flight?” Julie answered hesitantly because she knew quite well that her mind was a mess right now, “No turbulences and I was able to kinda stretch out my legs, so you won’t hear me complaining.” Al laughed and walked her friend out of the noisy airport to where she parked her heavily customized Defender D90. “You brought the big horse to pick me up, I see”, Julie noted with a wink. Her friend playfully hit her arm while opening the passenger door for her and joking, “Please get in, Mrs. Julie Ertz, two-time World Cup winner and outstanding midfielder.” Julie laughed loudly about Alex’s words but inside she died a little without anyone knowing.

  
Alex had brought two corndogs with her and Julie ended up eating hers during the drive to her new temporary home while Alex skipped through her Spotify-Playlist, not satisfied by any of the songs presented to her. “Honey, why don’t you switch to my list? You won’t let any of your ones play for longer than ten seconds”, Julie complained but tried to make it sound like an advice instead of a direct order, even though the continuous skipping drove her nuts. Once they waited at a red light, Alex took her iPhone and changed the playlist to Julie’s favorite songs. The two women shared this one list since the World Cup because Alex just couldn’t make a good one on her own. Listening to it now brought back some nice memories of their victories throughout the tournament. Al skipped the first song again after a few seconds as Julie nearly died choking on her corndog because she had to laugh so hard. It was “The First of the Gang to Die” by Morrissey. Kelley O’Hara had blurted that one out in the locker room and got pretty much every line wrong. Julie cracked up over the thought of this so hard that even the musically frustrated Captain Morgan couldn’t contain herself any longer. The second song the radio played was “Should Be Loved” by Blue October and both instinctively started singing along. Alex loved that song since hearing about the band for the first time from Julie two years ago. “Can you tell me, what have I done so wrong to you. Tell me what am I supposed to do”, Julie basically yelled out of her partly opened car window as passionately as possible. Followed by Alex singing the chorus wholeheartedly, “I should be loved by you, that I know is true. I can’t breathe when you’re around! No, I should be held at night, that I know is right. I can’t breathe when you’re around!” They ended up singing the complete lyrics to one another as if it was a live performance for a crowd of thousands of people, not even one word incorrectly and always in sync with the tune.

  
The drive didn’t take long, only about 20 minutes from the airport to Winter Park, where Alex resided with her husband Servando. When Alex parked the massive Defender in the garage, Julie hopped out and took the empty packing of the corndog with her. “You can just leave it in the car, if you want to. It’s Serv’s and he can at least clean up the cars because I’m keeping all of the damn house clean”, Alex complained while opening the door for Julie to get in the house. The blonde smirked but decided to keep her thoughts to herself because surely she wasn’t the pro when it came to functioning marriages. While Julie walked past her mate, Al took the sports bag she had brought and carried it for her. “Let me carry that into the guest room for you. No need for you to do all the work”, Alex said while her friend silently followed her up the stairs, only letting a quiet “Thank you” interrupt the peaceful silence between them. The brunette world champion placed the baggage on the floor next to Julie’s freshly made bed. “Oh my gosh, a bed. Finally.” Julie let herself collapse face first onto the bright gray sheets and breathed in the amazing smell of fruity detergent. The best hotel she could have wished for. Her teammate hugged Julie from behind, making this even more familiar with her warmth and her breath brushing against the blonde’s neck unintentionally. “I’m glad you’re here. I have so many questions but… mostly I really wanted to hug you and make sure you’re alright.” Hearing those words from Alex sent a shiver down Julie’s spine but the tight embrace was soothing enough to keep her at ease. “Al… I’m not alright…”, the midfielder stated the obvious with a heavy sigh into the bed sheets at the end. Julie turned her head to the left to face Alex who laid on the blonde’s back still. The top mouthed a silent “I know” and looked deeply saddened by it.

  
“You haven’t even unpacked and are about to steal my wife already?”, a familiar voice interrupted their peace from somewhere near the door. Alex kissed Julie’s cheek, then got up and hugged her husband. The guest was truly happy for those two lovebirds but as she turned around to take a look at Servando, seeing the picture-perfect couple nearly made her gag. Alex had sensed that already and pulled away from her husband. Then Serv helped the tired Julie up from the bed and gave her a long welcome hug. He even patted her back a bit during the embrace because of Julie’s current situation which nobody had talked about for a reason since she had arrived in Florida. “It’s great to have you here, Jules”, Servando whispered while he was still holding her. He was always such a sweet and kind-hearted guy, Alex must’ve been the luckiest girl on earth to call him her husband. “You always have a home here, I hope you know that”, he added, and the blonde woman nodded and smiled because some of the weight on her shoulders was lifted now.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, the two girls went out for dinner. Nothing fancy but rather casual because Alex wanted to introduce Julie to her newest favorite restaurant called Ethos Vegan Kitchen. It was a nice, homely place that reminded her of a modern kind of diner, mostly because of the interior and the welcoming staff. Both decided to share one starter called “Healthy Trio”, which basically was olive tapenade, hummus and tomato-mango salsa served with pita, tortilla chips and various vegetable sticks. As the two friends were eating happily because it was a long time since Jules’ arrival and they were about to starve, Alex couldn’t keep herself from starting this one topic she had refrained from talking about since picking her mate up at the airport. “Tell me, how are you lately? And be honest. No need to act tough or joyful. You can’t fool me.” Julie was fully aware that she had no chance to avoid this conversation forever and she had no intention to lie about any of the details. “Well, you know… I’m keeping up with life as best as possible. But it’s still a divorce though.” Alex nodded and placed her hand on Julie’s briefly, before letting her continue. “You know, Zach is no bad guy and we don’t hate each other just because our marriage didn’t last forever. Most of the time I’m able to distract myself from feeling anything. Travelling helps and that’s why I’ve been flying all through the states over the past months. Meanwhile Zach is trying to pack all his stuff and move out as quickly as he can. I’m grateful that he’s trying everything to make it easier for me. I just don’t want to sit around what used to be our home and watch idly as he puts our life into boxes.” After saying exactly what was on her mind, Julie heard how weird it sounded. She hadn’t talked to anybody but her close family about the details of the divorce, quickly adding, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so pathetic. I love travelling to all of you guys from the national team on this self-discovery trip. It’s fun and I feel truly free for the first time in years.” Alex knew that Julie’s words were honest, and she shook her head in disbelief because of how light such an emotional topic was when the blonde midfielder talked about it. Alex asked curiously, “Do you mind telling me why you guys decided to call it quits? You’ve always been going strong as a couple, or at least that’s what I thought when I saw you together.” Julie dipped one piece of pita into the hummus, ate it with visible joy and answered openly, “I think the major reason was the long-distance marriage we couldn’t keep alive without being really close to suffering from burnout. As we noticed this issue, it was already too late. Zach had fallen in love with a girl but tried so hard to shut those feelings down. Still we couldn’t fix our differences and had to give in eventually.”

  
Al felt the devastation pictured on Julie’s face as if it was her own. Her heart dropped a little more with every word her friend voiced. Somehow, she even felt the pain of what was left unsaid, standing right next to them like the elephant in the room. But she wouldn’t dare to dig deeper for Julie’s sake. It was hurtful enough to hear the shallow parts of this heartbreaking story. “I know this doesn’t help but I’m so sorry for both of you. You don’t deserve this. It’s so surreal.” The blonde couldn’t ignore how heavily affected her opposite was and so she automatically played it cool, “Sweetie, I’m not dead, neither about to die. Life goes on and that’s only one of many good things I’ve learned from this misery. I got to spend so much time with some of my dearest 23 friends these past months. I have nothing to complain about to be honest.”

  
The conversation stopped when the waiter brought their main dishes. Alex got herself French deli roll topped with marinated seitan, onions, bell peppers and mozzarella. On Julie’s plate, tortellini filled with tofu combined with mushrooms, spinach and a light cream sauce were waiting to be tasted. These meals looked delicious and none of the two friends could wait any longer to take a huge bite. After eating in silence for a couple of minutes to fully enjoy the food without interruptions, Alex reached over to Julie’s plate and stole two tortellini. This was their usual habit when dining together, so Julie did the same with Al’s tasty French deli roll. “Honestly, that’s delish”, the brunette forward praised with a wide grin on her face. Julie nodded in agreement with her mouth full, unable to speak. She didn’t mean to be impolite by stuffing all this great food into her mouth like a wild animal, but the temptation was stronger than her will to be classy.

  
After they had finished their meals, Alex found another topic to talk about which wouldn’t make either of them uncomfortable like the one about divorce, “So I’ve heard a lot about your trip all over the states from the girls during our friendlies against Sweden and Costa Rica. Such a shame you didn’t attend even though I get your reasons of course. With whom did you stay during the last months exactly?” Julie took a long sip from her diet coke while trying to count all of her mates who had been giving her shelter lately. “I started by staying over at Christen’s in Utah. She was the one who came up with the “self-discovery” name for my trip actually. Tobin joined us during my third week with her. We had a lot of fun as you can imagine. Afterwards I changed location to Emily and Lindsey’s shared apartment. Horan was finally able to teach me how to poach eggs and I am beyond stoked to try all variations of this when I get back home…” Alex couldn’t stop laughing about the Lindsey news because she remembered her previous attempts to do it while they were in camp together and how every single one failed miserably. Julie continued, trying not to chuckle at the thought of bad cooking even longer, “Then I visited Alyssa for a week and, I tell you, we checked out every restaurant in Chi-Town. Even though I know my way around there too, Naeher showed me the best hidden gems. I can still feel my belly aching at the thought of the massive amounts of food. My last stop before today was Lloyd’s mansion. I swear to god; Brian and Carli were the most amazing hosts so far with all the home cooking and the many movie nights we had. Plus, the long hikes the three of us did together which totally helped me clear my head after all the bad stuff prior to my trip.” “Awe man, I wish I could’ve been there with you guys”, Alex sighed. “Yeah, you would have loved it. We had a blast.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

On their way home to Alex and Serv’s house, they listened to Train’s album “Bulletproof Picasso” with the volume turned up. When “Wonder What You’re Doing for the Rest of Your Life” came on, Julie started singing along and Al gladly joined in with her raucous voice from all the talking today. They even had to pull the windows back up because the people on the sidewalks were staring at them like they were lunatics. When Alex pulled into the driveway of her house, both women were laughing happily and couldn’t wait to tell Serv about all the fun he missed out on.

  
“I’ll get Blue to take her out for a walk for five minutes. You go in and make yourself comfortable on the couch. Don’t forget to choose some movies to watch tonight, babes”, Alex commanded, and Julie was more than happy to oblige. The blonde hopped out of the car and went into the house through the door in the garage, while Al got to the front porch to whistle for Blue while opening the front entrance for the joyfully jumping dog. Jules went inside and through the living room to get to her guest room. She heard Blue barking from outside, probably because she had made a new doggy friend. The thought of this made Jules smile, but as she opened the door to her temporary room the grin got wiped away quickly.

  
In front of her, Alex’s husband Servando and an unknown female woman laid in a very explicit position that needed no second guessing. In shock and lost for words, Julie let out a loud gasp and slammed the door shut so she didn’t have to look at this betrayal. For some seconds she stared at the wooden door she had just shut herself and couldn’t breathe. Her whole body felt like a card house swept away by a hurricane. Unintentionally Julie heard Servando yelling at the female from behind the door, “Take your shit and get out now!” This was followed by the sound of a window opened and closed shortly after. She could picture everything in detail now after seeing those two get it on seconds ago and her jaw dropped when her mind kept replaying the scene over and over again. Fuck, fuck, fuck she thought to herself, flinching as Servando opened the door rapidly just to find himself right in front of his wife’s friend without any idea of what to do next. Both stood there for a moment, simply looking each other in the eye dead serious. “Julie, I…”, Servando stammered nervously, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

This was about to get messy soon…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. This story was originally planned to be a oneshot but I ended up writing more than 3000 words without being anywhere near the end of my notes for this story, so I went with the flow and decided to do more than one chapter.  
Let me know what you think about it so far. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


	2. Will The Future Blame Us?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Julie deal with the secret which has been accidentally revealed to her in Chapter 1?  
Can she go on as if nothing had happened or does she feel like she's lost trust in a friend now?  
Let's find out in Chapter 2...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I remember when the lights went out  
And the world forgot to turn around  
And everything was closing in on me, on me  
I swore that I would make it through  
I wouldn't hit the ground because of you  
That was a promise I couldn't keep  
Can't you see baby”

Alex’s POV

Blue came running towards his brunette owner as fast as possible with a huge stick in his mouth and his tail wagging joyfully. “Good boy”, Alex said as she knelt down to pet her furry child. Their eyes were glistening with excitement because playtime was their favorite part of every day. Then she got back up, turned around and whistled for Blue to follow her home. They had been out for only ten minutes, but a good host doesn’t let his guests entertain themselves, so Al threw Blue’s stick and made him fetch it a few times on their way home, then he would at least feel a bit more exhausted. As she opened the front door of her house, Blue stormed in, ran right up to his daddy Servando and got himself some nice attention. Alex wondered why Serv wore nothing but his black jeans and joked, “Guys, I’ve been walking the dog, not catching a plane. You can’t fit your make out session in those 10 minutes.” Julie stood a few feet away from Alex’s husband, wearing a look Al hadn’t seen on her face outside of a soccer pitch in a while.  
“Sorry, babe. Jules had some trouble with a lizard in her room. I just kind of scared her because I came to the rescue without my shirt”, Serv explained and made his wife laugh because of how often he does such dorky things. “Yeah, exactly… He came… to the rescue”, their guest repeated, her voice being deadly monotonous. Alex walked up to her husband and gave him a peck on the cheek, then went over to her friend and stated, “Lately Florida has had a lot of trouble with lizards inside people’s houses, especially in the northeastern area. With the three or four we had to carry out, we can consider ourselves lucky actually.” She placed her hand on Julie’s shoulder to reassure her, that every room is safe now that the man of the house had saved her. The blonde didn’t really respond to this gesture, but everybody knew JJ was no big fan of non-domesticated animals in the same room with her. Most people weren’t, Alex supposed.

The brunette went into her open kitchen, something she was extraordinarily proud of, and waved to her hubby and Jules to join her in front of the two shelves filled with sweets and any food needed for a successful movie night at home. “What do you guys want to snack while watching tv? Jules, you choose first because you’re our lovely guest”, Alex said while keeping Serv’s hand from grabbing his beloved Reese’s snack mix. “I think I’ll go with the spicy peanuts”, her friend decided and grabbed two boxes of them because she was well aware that Alex loved them too. Al carefully pushed JJ away from the holy shelves before she’d fall victim to Servando’s rampant love for all kinds of sweets. It was best to get out of the way whenever somebody opened those two shelves while being within earshot of Serv.

The two women walked into the living room, claiming two spots next to each other on the huge, comfortable couch. “Oh dang, I forgot to bring a bowl for our peanuts”, Alex noticed, already about to get up. “Don’t worry, baby. I got you covered”, the husband responded as he rummaged around in his favorite shelf, “I’ll take one with me once I’m done here.” Alex smiled widely at Jules who gave Serv an odd look, when he closed the shelf with four different kinds of sweets in his hands. “You’ve gotten yourself a very insatiable husband, I guess”, Julie noted ambiguously but Alex laughed too hard about this alleged stating of the obvious, so her blonde friend was sure her hint hadn’t been received at all.

Servando put the bowl on the coffee table at the women’s feet and waited patiently for doggy Blue to lie down next to Alex, before he made himself comfortable on the other end of the couch, opposing their temporary guest Julie. In the following five minutes, they tried to agree on which movie or series episodes to watch. A tough task considering that those three didn’t exactly share the same taste. Al even started an intervention to stop the whole discussion because it turned into an argument about who had the better taste in all kinds of art. Nobody wanted to see Alex with tears in her eyes, which happened a lot because she hated losing her peace over random, unnecessary debates, so they agreed on three different shows on Netflix. Servando requested The Politician, Julie showed the couple one episode of her current favorite Peaky Blinders, and Alex introduced them to White Gold. The mixture of teen-comedy, drama and British-humor-comedy sounded really weird at first but after one episode of each series, all three agreed on how much fun every single one was.

\---------------------------------------------------

Julie’s POV

After being around the putatively happy couple for three hours during their Netflix session, Julie couldn’t bear looking at Servando’s face anymore. She excused herself and went outside for a jog. “Please be careful, JJ. It’s pretty late already”, Alex warned her like any good friend would. Of course, Al knew that her teammate could look after herself very well but hearing the apprehension in her voice made Jules feel even more grateful for her friend’s kindness. Not many people would let her live in their guest room for even one day and she didn’t want to take any of this for granted.

The soon-to-be former Mrs. Ertz put on her red Beats headphones and tried her very best to cut the world off as she started running down the street. Her boyband playlist slowly started off with “Back for Good” by Take That, a song Julie really liked to listen to while doing sports. Most of her teammates couldn’t stand training with slower music on but in her opinion, it helped to quiet down all the loud noise in her mind. Sometimes her head became really noisy causing terrible headaches. Zach used to say, “Why don’t you just lie down for a bit and relax?” whenever her thoughts overwhelmed her body. A slight smirk formed on her lips when thinking about his inability to comprehend that overthinking can’t be cured by sleep because it keeps you from it. Her feet touched the ground harder as soon as her mind focused on anything related to Zach and she felt how inch after inch, her whole body tensed up.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her right shoulder and instinctively changed into sprinting mode to get away from the possible attacker. Her heart was pounding heavily when she realized that it was Servando. “Damn, you scared me”, she yelled at him in anger and lifted her headphones so she could communicate easier. From Serv’s face one could tell that he felt truly sorry for frightening her. “Sorry, I talked to you from behind, but you didn’t respond. Didn’t mean to spook you. Can we talk?” “Talk about how you cheated on Alex? No”, Julie replied confidently and got back into her running routine, with the headphones completely covering her ears so she wouldn’t hear his complaints. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t expect the L.A. Galaxy midfielder to keep up with her pace, but he did. Servando jogged right by her side for a couple of minutes, possibly completely silent because JJ didn’t notice any movement of his lips out of the corner of her eye. _Gosh, I swore to myself that I won’t talk nor think about what I had just seen in the guest room,_ she thought to herself, being so stressed that she unwittingly sighed. Subsequently, her unrequested companion pulled the headphones from her ear and yelled, “Please stop and listen to me! For Alex’s sake!” As he said his wife’s name, Julie came to an abrupt stop and looked at him with disgust.

He pointed towards a wooden bench near the street and Jules followed him over there without saying even the slightest word. Both sat down as far away from one another as possible because clearly JJ could barely stand his presence now. “Alright, thanks for stopping. Are you willing to give me a chance to explain the situation to you?”, Serv asked with the most worried look she had ever seen on his face. A silent nod was her response and even though he didn’t like it, he started explaining, “First of all, I’m terribly sorry I dragged you into this. I know you’ve had enough of a hard time without all this shit already. Please believe me when I say that what you saw today hasn’t happened before and won’t happen again. You know that’s not who I am.”

“So that’s not who you are, huh? Then what happened to turn you into such a cheating asshole?! Is it so hard to keep your hands to your fucking beautiful wife?!”, Julie talked herself into a rage. The simple thought of how she put Servando on a pedestal as loving, supportive husband before the incident today made her stomach turn. Serv wanted to move closer to Julie because he totally understood her rage but as he tried, she flashed her eyes at him to make sure she’d hit him directly in the face if he dares to move. “Believe it or not, yes, it is difficult to interact with her lately. She seems to be emotionally detached from me and she wouldn’t even talk to me about it as I brought it up three weeks ago. Jules, she doesn’t let me in, and I’m deafened by the sound of my bare hand knocking against her walls for months now.”

Actually, his words didn’t sound like a lie to the blonde, still she couldn’t justify what he did. _He is Alex’s husband and best friend, she wouldn’t shut him out for no reason._ “You wanna tell me Al cut you off and won’t talk to you about the reason? Come on, she’s the most loyal girl I know. She would never keep anything from you. Remember, I was there with you two just minutes ago when your relationship seemed to work well. You guys have known each other for years even before the marriage. I really doubt your words.” Her companion nodded in agreement but the sadness in his eyes looked overwhelmingly honest, so Julie felt bad for bawling at him beforehand. Servando noticed her slowly unwinding facial expression and plucked up the courage to reply to her accusation, “I know all of this sounds crazy and of course I’m still a douche for what happened earlier in your room. But I really tried to talk to her so many times, I’ve lost count. All I know is that her behavior has changed a lot back in September last year and never returned to normal ever since. JJ, I truly think she doesn’t love me anymore.”

Julie swallowed, trying to fully understand this unbelievable information. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”, she asked. Serv shook his head, his shoulders hanging from all the painful emotions he must have been going through. “Fine, I won’t tell her about it right away. If what you’re saying is true, I’ll try to help you. Let me talk to Alex and if I can find out what’s wrong with her, I’ll let you know. But right after that, you’re going to tell her what happened. Deal?” Servando stared at her in disbelief until it finally hit him, and he hugged her tightly with a few little tears of joy forming in his eyes. Regardless of his previous decision to cheat on Julie’s friend and teammate, she still knew he was a good guy and didn’t act like that out of nowhere.

\---------------------------------------------------

Serv unlocked the front entrance of his dimly lit house, then let Julie enter first because he was still a gentleman. _A cheating gentleman though._ One foot inside, Julie saw Alex fast asleep on the sofa with Blue pressed to her front. “Would you mind taking the master bedroom upstairs with Al? I mean, I haven’t changed the sheets in the guest room yet, you know?” Jules rolled her eyes but understood quite well that he didn’t want his wife to sleep in the bed in which he cheated on her. “Just tell her I got a blocked nose and didn’t want to wake her with my snoring please”, he begged and the guest nodded without saying anything.

As Julie moved closer to the couch, Blue got up and followed her daddy into the guest room, probably because her mommy held onto her a little too tight. Not to speak of Alex’s chronically stuffed nose which used to drive some of her roommates in camp up the walls. “Honey, you need to go to bed or you’ll wake up pretty grumpy later on”, Jules whispered while kneeling in front of her host’s head, fondling her arm to get her to open the eyes. Nothing but a soft, incomprehensible mumble came out of Al’s mouth, so JJ bent forwards and kissed her mate’s forehead. “Lex, don’t ignore me. You know…” Suddenly Alex opened her eyes rapidly, grabbed the right strap of Julie’s white tank top and smirked still half asleep. “You haven’t called me that in a while”, her smile got bigger while saying this. _I didn’t?_ The blonde didn’t know how to respond and just threw a puzzled look at her opposing friend.

Alex mustered all her remaining strength to sit up cross-legged, not letting go of the tank top. “Jules, I’m not okay with you and Zach divorcing”, Al announced out of the blue, playing softly with the strap between her fingers. This totally random comment made Julie laugh before the brunette added, “It’s not funny. I’m trying to be serious here. Worst thing is, I thought you’d call me first, but you didn’t answer any of my calls or texts. I’m still mad at you, just so you know.” JJ put one of Alex’s strands of hair behind the sleepyhead’s ear. “You were the first to know, just not right after it had happened. I didn’t reply to anybody that week. But you’re cute when you’re mad so it’s fine with me”, the midfielder joked, laughing off her feelings about the difficult time during the breakup. “Are you okay?”, the brunette questioned, pulling her teammate in for a hug. “I am now”, JJ’s response was almost like a whisper sliding underneath Alex’s skin. Julie could feel the goosebumps through Al’s flimsy, oversized shirt and caressed some of them on her lower back. “Love you, Johnston.” “Love you too, Morgan.” Eventually both let go of each other and Al cupped Jules’ face in her hands, promising quietly, “You’ll be fine, sweetie. You’re so much stronger than any man could ever be.” Hearing those words made JJ freeze in shock, especially while looking into Alex’s eyes which conveyed how much she believed in her own comment. “Lex, I…”, the midfielder started but all at once lost her already trembling voice.

_Lex, I think I should tell you about your husband or the way you were the last person I’d told anything about the divorce. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. Certainly, I shouldn’t be the one staring at you now._

Although many thoughts were rushing through Julie’s mind while looking into her teammate’s eyes, she couldn’t utter the words to express any of them. Alex remained calm while waiting for her opposite to finish the sentence. After a while, Al let go of JJ’s face and even though she didn’t have the slightest idea what the blonde wanted to tell her, she put on a huge smile. “It’s been a really long day. It seems like we need to recharge our batteries now”, she proposed, much to Ertz’s liking.

Julie stood up from her kneeling position and pulled her friend up with her. “Serv said, he’ll take the guest room because he made a little mess in there with Blue today.” Lex rolled her eyes because husband-doggy-time became chaotic way too often, but she liked that Serv was well-behaved enough to acknowledge his mistake and let the guest sleep in the tidy room to make up for it. “Then it’s National Team sleepover tonight.” Alex’s grinned from ear to ear as she realized this and how funny it used to be back when they were in camp during the Victory Tour games.

After they had finished their nightly routine of brushing their teeth, changing from daily clothes into comfy sleepwear and taking off their basic makeup, Jules and Alex climbed into the huge, soft sheets of the king size bed. Julie almost hit over Serv’s alarm clock on his nightstand while fumbling for the light switch. She laughed it off, apologizing, “Sorry, honey. I’m not used to sleeping on the left side of the bed. Feels wrong but I’ll adjust for the night.” “You better learn how to deal with it because those two guys down in the guest room aren’t good at restraining themselves from making the house look like shit. Maybe I’ll tell Serv that you should sleep here during your whole stay. It’d be really time saving, I guess”, Alex explained laughing. The guest surely wouldn’t dare to complain about that. This bed was even more comfortable than the one which was originally planned to be hers during the stay. They gave each other a long hug before lying down silently and slowly dozing off with some worries on their minds that would pose a threat sooner than expected…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading through this second chapter. I've loved all the feedback you've given me through kudos, subs and comments on the previous chapter! There's still a lot more to write, according to the notes I've gathered over the past week since chapter 1 has been published. I hope you're all as excited as I am.  
Let me know what you think about this chapter and the whole story so far. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you!


	3. Love Calling Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when you wake up after your previous day was an emotional rollercoaster ride?  
Alex and Julie get some time to talk about their months after winning the World Cup and suddenly their emotions are all over the place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your subs, kudos and hits for chapter 2! Can't wait to get to know what you think about the new one. Let me know!
> 
> “It's only half past the point of oblivion  
The hourglass on the table  
The walk before the run  
The breath before the kiss  
And the fear before the flames  
Have you ever felt this way?”

**Julie’s POV**

The night was quiet and gave Jules a good rest to regain her strength, mentally as well as physically, because she knew she’d need full batteries to deal with the upcoming days. As she opened one eye, still dizzy from the relaxing recovery time, tiny sunbeams fell on the bedsheet in which she was peacefully tucked. The bedroom was still very dark because the few sunrays couldn’t light it up properly through the blinds on the windows. It took a moment until she noticed the silence. No sound of Alex’s stuffed nose to her left. This worried her so much that she turned around, half asleep and actually not willing to wake up just yet. Her weary eyes found the brunette lying right next to her, which calmed JJ, and she fought back the urge to sleep some more as she discovered that Al was looking at her with a soft smile.

Thankfully the forward didn’t want to disturb the peace by speaking and only put her hand on Julie’s arm which was resting above the greyish blanket both of the women had shared through the night. They’ve been teammates for so long now that there was nothing awkward about them lying in the same bed anymore. The only difference was that whenever they were in camp, they had to get up way too early to ever enjoy watching the sun lighting up their rooms. “It’s peaceful with you”, Julie whispered, one eye closed still, “And I bet I’m looking cuter now than you thought I ever could.”

Alex laughed softly, caressing her friend’s shoulder. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was about to wrap her fingers around Jules’ tank top strap again but Jules liked that a lot. “You’re always cute and you know it”, Al replied, pulling her mate closer by said strap, “But I have to admit, there’s something about you this morning that’s even more tempting than usual.” The blonde’s heart dropped when she heard this compliment from the hot captain. But as Alex was only inches away from her, the brunette dug her face in Jules’ neck and held her tighter than ever before. This wasn’t what she had expected but at least it didn’t complicate their friendship. That wasn’t what any of them needed right now.

Still the embrace felt heavy in a weird kind of way. Alex wasn’t overly affectionate and didn’t make an effort to flirt with anyone on the team after her one year relationship with Kelley O’Hara. Of course, this was way back when she hadn’t been married, but Johnston never really got it out of her head. Neither did any of their teammates, that’s for sure. Al seemed a lot happier with KO. Nobody would have mentioned that in front of her though. _Get your head together, blondie;_ JJ thought to herself before the touch of Alex’s breath caught her off guard for a moment. “How do you manage to always smell so nice”, Alex asked without waiting for an answer, “Zach was such a lucky guy. Can’t believe he messed it up.” This sentence felt like a thorn was put into Julie’s heart and she flinched a little. She knew something wasn’t quite right with her friend because all of this seemed forced. She was married and as the loyal girl she was, nobody would have convinced her to get that close to somebody else, much less if this person was a teammate.

“Lex, what’s wrong with you?”, Julie asked, damning herself because she had enjoyed this scene more than anybody else. Immediately, Al let go of her and looked shell-shocked. Reflexively, Julie pulled her back into her strong arms because she knew her friend was about to flip and become a complete mess at any minute. “You’re calling me Lex because you know it’s bad, don’t you?” Julie swallowed every emotion that rose inside of her for conversation’s sake and whispered nothing but a “yes” in her friend’s ear. Alex continued, knowing that there was nobody better to confess to than JJ, “I certainly know that Servando cheats on me regularly. The worst thing about all of it is that I’m not mad at him for doing it. Our marriage is fucked up…” Jules wanted to interrupt the brunette because what she said couldn’t be true. Of course, she knew about the cheating because she had seen it for herself, but Serv wasn’t a guy to lie to her about how this was the first time he had done it.

She let go of Alex just to look her in the eyes and speak to the contrary, “Honey, you can’t be serious. He’s not that kind of guy. Please, don’t give up on your marriage now. You two are made for each other.” Al tried her best to hold her tears back and pull herself together, then answered, “No, he isn’t a bad husband, that’s true. Do you remember my date with Servando right after the World Cup win last year? It wasn’t what it seemed to be. Back then I told him that I had cheated on him during the competition.”  
“You did what?”, Jules pretended she didn’t understand it even though she actually did. There were rumors about Captain Morgan and Kelley having an affair, but nobody really believed it. She even forgot they ever existed because it seemed very implausible to the whole team. A silent nod was Alex’s whole reply. Sufficient enough for JJ to wrap her arms around the nearly crying brunette beauty, mostly so she wouldn’t have to see her cry. Julie really couldn’t deal with tears at all. They always made her lose all control and run wild. Nothing was worse than knowing someone was in pain and she couldn’t help them. “Don’t you love him anymore?” Another nod was the answer. Alex tried to stammer out an explanation while cracking up really hard with her head pressed against JJ’s shoulder, “When we were at the parade after the World Cup and saw you and Kelley texting your loved ones… I was so jealous. But what happens in camp stays in camp, that’s the one rule nobody gets to break… Gosh, I’m so confused. I didn’t want to drag you into this. Not now and not two years ago.”

Suddenly it all made sense to Julie. There were pictures flashing in her mind. She recalled drinking too much at one of the National Team afterparties. All of them were so outgoing and joyful that night. Around 2pm, most of them called it a night and went back to their hotel rooms, including Alex, Ashlyn, Becky and herself. All four of them were completely wasted and they decided to switch roommates for no obvious reason. Julie ended up with Alex and as they went into their room, the blonde said something flirty about her roomies’ butt while walking in second. The forward quickly turned around, most likely to hit her in the face for the comment, but they ended up bouncing against one another because their reflexes had been long gone. Then Al kissed her out of the blue and they went to bed but didn’t do anything because they fell asleep immediately. The only things they said before their eyelids closed due to tiredness, was how Ash would definitely hit on Becky and everybody but her was fully aware of it. Alex’s laughter echoed in Julie’s ear even though the memory felt out of reach.

Al kind of wondered why Jules had been zoning out, so she pinched her teammate until her eyes cleared up again. “Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong?”, Julie asked, clearly pretty upset about her previous thoughts. The brunette leaned her forehead against JJ’s, recapping the conversation, “Babe, I’ve been whining about my damn marriage and somehow your mind drifted away. Is everything alright?” Jules shook her head in disbelief because of her serious lack of friendship skills this morning. “I’m still a bit tired, I guess. Sorry, I’ve been listening and I’ll keep doing that even if you want to ramble on forever. That’s what friends are for.” This excuse seemed to be acceptable for the forward because she responded, “Don’t worry, I know how tired you are by just listening to your throaty voice. We’ll figure everything out after coffee, alright?” Jules’s face lit up and she smiled at her beautiful companion, followed by a huge nod. That was exactly what she needed before diving into the misery of broken marriages again.

\-----------------------------------------------

**Alex’s POV**

It had been a really long time since Al had felt as depressed as today. On the one hand she’s had so much fun with her National Team friend last night and waking up with her this morning brought up joyful moments from the past. On the other hand, the past six months were the loneliest and most draining ones she’s had in her entire life. Servando and she tried to patch things up several times, some nice dates out on the town, a few holidays spent in great cities. Once they even put their marriage on hold to spend weeks apart purposely, no texts, no calls. Nothing helped to keep the sparks flying for longer than three days afterwards. But what really made Alex lose all her hope was when she heard about Julie’s divorce. They were such a stable couple, it seemed like the whole world was in shock after the news were revealed a little more than four months ago. Even now thinking about it made Alex clench her teeth out of frustration.

“See you later, Al”, Serv yelled her way before leaving the house for his daily gym session. The brunette froze for a second because her head had been lost in thoughts before he said goodbye. She didn’t bother replying, he was already out of hearing distance. _At least we don’t have to put on this perfect couple shitshow any longer because Julie knows the truth now._ The forward poured freshly brewed coffee into two large cups just in time as JJ walked down the stairs. “You look beautiful today”, Morgan mentioned, completely stunned with her eyes set on the blonde woman. Julie wore a dark blue jeans outfit with a blouse and rather tight trousers, completed by her bright, joyful smile. Alex’s heart stopped entirely, when the pretty midfielder came over to the kitchen counters to kiss the host’s blushed cheek.

Somehow Al regained focus while watching the guest grab one of coffees and blowing on the hot drink so she wouldn’t burn her tongue. “Are you ready to talk about it? Because I’m lost right now and I’d love to know what’s going on”, Julie asked, placing her spare hand on Alex’s. A silent nod from the forward and both women walked over to the kitchen table with their brews. “Please forgive me for playing the happy housewife, okay? We didn’t want to cause any more trouble for you. I can’t explain the situation very well so… here’s what I have. Servando and I have been fighting for our love to come back for half a year now. We tried everything, we even went to couples’ therapy four times. I’m starting to believe it’s impossible to fix us.”

Julie’s eyes were focused on Alex as she drank a huge gulp of coffee, obviously trying to gain more time to think about what she’d just heard. In the meantime, her opposingly sitting teammate took a look outside through the tall glass windows next to her chair, rubbing the handle of her cup gently to soothe her nerves. Her words lingered in the room and left a bad taste in both of their mouths metaphorically. JJ broke the heavy silence by advising, “You need to talk to him about all of this. Explain yourself just like you did to me. He won’t judge you, I’m sure of that.”

“I probably should, yes. But what am I supposed to tell him? I don’t have the slightest idea how to proceed in this marriage”, Al confessed in an upset tone. Julie took a deep breath, rehearsing what she wanted to say in her head for everyone to see, before she replied without hesitation, “I guess that’s exactly the hint you’ve been looking for. What I’ve learned during the past months is that if we can’t see a way to proceed, there might not be one.” Alex’s stomach turned when she understood the meaning behind Jules’ advice. This realization made her turn pale instantly. She thought she was about to faint any minute, so she decided to take a slow sip of coffee and cling to her warm cup to calm down eventually. Then she glanced over to her mate, seeing that she was just as scared as Al. Julie caught her eyes, tried to put on a comforting smile and said, “Believe me, I’ve been there and done that, baby. It pains me to say this but I’m not sure if it’d be healthy to fake your life that way you did yesterday in front of me and the last months whenever the public was watching. Of course I’ll support you, no matter what you decide to do. You’re not alone.”

_Then why does this feel like it’s just me in a dark and empty room where all I can hear is how my breath is getting heavier every second?_ This thought made her tear up and even though she did her best to keep her eyes from overflowing, it didn’t work any longer. Alex had kept all of this anger, pain and disappointment to herself for six months now but today was the day when she gave in finally. Her quiet sobbing turned into loud weeping as soon as Julie got up from her chair, wrapped her arms around the crying Al and pressed the sides of their faces against one another. It seemed like Morgan’s heart broke the minute she realized she couldn’t stop her marriage from blowing up right in her face.

“Let it go, honey. Don’t hold back your tears. You’ll be fine. I’m here”, JJ whispered repeatedly like a mantra to comfort her friend. She didn’t let go of her. Not even the leaning in she had to do to hug Alex who was still huddled in her chair seemed to bother her at all. Al couldn’t say anything in this moment but Jules’ warmth on her body felt like the only thing keeping her alive. The slowed down breathing rhythm of the blonde on Lex’s cheek held her heavily pounding heart together. “Thank you”, Alex whispered with a lump in her throat from all the crying, her hands still having a tight grip on the midfielder’s blouse, basically forcing her to never let go. “Always”, Julie replied immediately, softly stroking Al’s back up to her neck with one hand.

The brunette shifted her head slightly to the right to apologize while looking at her savior, staring into JJ’s hazel blue eyes. The tension went sky high and something made Alex pull Julie close until their noses nearly touched. There was fear in their eyes because of how this was going to turn out but there was no way back now, at least not for Jules who tenderly pressed her lips onto Morgan’s. Al’s whole body was steady, not shaking because of fear or heartbreak for a brief moment.

All these emotions were too much for her head though, tears started streaming down her pretty face and as soon as JJ noticed it, she flinched back. “No, no. It’s alright”, Alex tried to calm the situation and failed miserably. Jules didn’t seem to be mad at Lex, but she clearly made a run for the door after their lips had separated. There wasn’t even time for a “goodbye” or “see you later”. _Dang those soccer girls. They’re just really good at running,_ Morgan thought to herself with a little smirk. The situation might have gotten a lot more complicated, but she enjoyed it. She loved Johnston’s presence in general.

Julie had to come back to her temporary home anyhow, so this would become an issue...


	4. I Won’t Keep This From You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when Julie returns to Alex & Servando's home after the fateful kiss?  
Why did it even happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the support and feedback through your kudos, subs and comments so far!  
Let me know what you think in the comments please.
> 
> “I raised my hand as if to show you that I was yours  
That I was so yours for the taking  
I'm so yours for the taking  
That's when I felt the wind pick up  
I grabbed the rail while choking up  
These words to say and then you kissed me”

**Julie’s POV**

_You can do this. It’s not rocket science. Just go in and pretend everything’s fine._  
Jules stood in front of the garage, hiding from Alex’s sight to prepare for the damage she’d done with overreacting. She went out for a jog but ended up walking to the beat of her weird thoughts. Now she found herself at Alex and Serv’s place again, unable to breathe easily. Why did she have to mess her friendship up with a heady kiss? What if from Al’s point of view, this looked like Julie gave her the advice on her broken marriage to make her vulnerable and prompt the kiss? The mere thought of this accusation nearly made the blonde throw up.

The blood was rushing through her veins when she grabbed the key from underneath the doormat because she had forgotten to ask Al for one. Actually, she had been storming out way too hasty to remember to ask for it. She went inside the house which was too quiet to feel welcoming. Blue came up to her and got himself some nice affection before Julie even bothered searching for her teammate. There wasn’t anything she wanted less right now than talking to the brunette forward after her impulsive kiss during their previous conversation. Still she knew that she wouldn’t be able to stay in this house without it.

“Alex, are you here?”, Jules halfheartedly yelled through the empty rooms, slowly starting to move towards the guest room where she expected her host to be. “I’ll be right there with you”, she heard a shaky voice reply. The sound came from somewhere next to the guest room, so she yelled once more, “Where are you?” This time there wasn’t any response. She went over to the door just across the hallway, hearing the sound of water running from inside. Her heartbeat steadied as she knocked and Al told her to come in.

As she opened the door to the bathroom, her friend leaned on the sink, looking in the mirror with puffy eyes. The dried lines of her tears were still visible on her face. Julie’s heart dropped and she couldn’t help but put her hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I’m sorry”, Jules said in a quiet tone. “What for?”, her teammate asked, looking into her eyes just confident enough to smile for a bit, “You didn’t do anything wrong. My marriage failed and it has nothing to do with you. To be honest, you’re the best thing that has happened to me in a while. I wouldn’t have had the strength to say it straight to his face without this morning talk with you.”

This explanation overwhelmed Julie completely and she was choked up instantly. JJ wanted to say something but she was tongue-tied and felt like she couldn’t hold back her own tears any longer if she said even one word. “For god’s sake, please just cry. Look at me with my terribly bloodshot eyes. I don’t want to be the only one who’s ugly crying”, Al joked, grabbing the midfielder’s hand to calm herself. These words made Jules crack up so badly, her faces turned red right away before the first tears found their way down the cheeks. She lost all control and gave in to a warm hug from Morgan, pulling her closer, unwilling to ever let go.

\----------------------------------------------

**Alex’s POV**

“Sorry it took so long but your dog really likes lying in front of doors, doesn’t he? Couldn’t get out for like five minutes”, Julie’s voice woke Alex who had fallen asleep on the couch while the blonde was away. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting as soon as the light from above the coffee table hit her face. “Oh, damn you”, the brunette cursed, referring to the lamp, covering her head with a cushion. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say”, Jules joked, walking over to the switch and killing every light in the living room except for the tv screen. Al knew she hadn’t been the best host during the last three days after her final break up with Servando, but she simply couldn’t help it. Everything tasted worse, gave her a headache or turned her into an angry mess. Even Blue kept his distance because he couldn’t deal with her emotions. It seemed like her whole world was upside down and nobody could change that, not even the good company.

When JJ sat down next to her, the forward came out of hiding again, making eye contact with her worried friend. “Yeah, I’m stupid and I’m not sorry. Well, I am sorry most of the time but I… you know”, Al tried to justify her crazy behavior but ended up being too exhausted from it all. It didn’t help that she kept apologizing approximately 30 times a day but then messed it all up by being mean afterwards. Yesterday Serv came to pick up some clothes to get him through the week without interrupting his wife’s healing process every day. Thankfully Julie had taken Al out for dinner during this time so she wouldn’t have to talk to him anymore. At least not now when the wound was still bleeding.

“Please stop saying sorry. It’s a pain in the ass, honestly. I told you it’s fine and I understand your moods. Been there, done that; remember?” Alex nodded, feeling bad for making Jules say that for so many times since she had arrived. The forward picked herself up literally, wrapping one arm around Julie’s shoulders, pulling her close enough to give her soft cheek a little peck. “You awake yet?”, Jules asked, pointing to the tv, “Because we’re not even halfway through the first season of Styling Hollywood.” To Al it was amazing how easily her friend had turned off the potential feelings after their kiss four days ago. It made this whole situation less complicated. Still there were some questions on Morgan’s mind that she couldn’t ignore any longer. She cautiously waited until her mate was fully emotionally invested in deciding which of the presented dresses was the prettiest on Styling Hollywood, until she raised the first question.

She cleared her throat, gathered all courage and asked, “Did our kiss feel different from the ones in camp for you too?” Julie held her breath instantly, unable to shift her focus from the tv because she was totally not prepared for this. It took her a solid minute to mutter, “As far as I recall, yes.” This answer wasn’t very thorough, so Al wasn’t satisfied and kept probing, “You mean it felt… nice? Extraordinary? Bad? Inappropriate?” Looking closely at her companion, Alex thought she saw JJ’s right eye twitching. “I didn’t make a summarizing memo in my mind, but I guess it was all of the above.” The host had to accept that she wouldn’t get a proper answer to this specific question right now, so she switched slightly, wondering loudly, “I’m not exactly sure why you kissed me. Can you recall that?”

For the first time in this conversation, Julie turned her head and gave her friend an unsettled look. “You’ve got a lot of questions for someone who’s supposed to watch a new tv series, honey. Does the show bore you?” This, again, wasn’t a very satisfying answer, so Alex grabbed the remote and paused the series, making enough room for her opposite to reply properly. Jules sighed, bowing her head in frustration over this situation. “Fine, I surrender. Yes, the kiss felt different for me too because it had never happened in such a personal environment before. And yeah, I can recall the reason. You were really cute and actually pretty upset. Too upset if you ask me. I couldn’t just watch and keep it all inside.”

This explanation wasn’t only sufficient but rather heartbreaking and Alex had a hard time keeping herself from crying over those words. “Don’t cry. I didn’t…”, Jules started making amends. Al stopped her from talking any further by shutting her up with their second impulsive kiss. After a brief moment of awkwardness, Julie leaned in so much that Morgan had to lay back completely, the midfielder on top of her. The brunette didn’t mind one bit, placing her hand on JJ’s back. She forced back a smile because she wanted every inch of Jules’ lips for herself. Once they ran out of air, Al inhaled sharply just in time before Julie placed a couple of short kisses on her teammates sweetly tasting mouth. Both of them weren’t sure whether their hearts were pounding because of the need for air or excitement over whatever they’d gotten themselves into.

As Al moved her hand from JJ’s back to her neck, the brunette’s elbow hit the remote and it fell onto the floor with a loud bang. She slid her arm down instinctively but Julie met it halfway down, intertwining the fingers of their two hands pressed into the sofa right next to Morgan’s head. There was no way they’d let go of each other now.

\---------------------------------------------

Julie’s POV

On the sixth day of her stay, Julie got up early to make pancakes for Alex and herself. She knew the host enjoyed sleeping in and being woken up with a sweet surprise breakfast. That was the least she could do to make it up for the generous opportunity to stay in Winter Park for a while. Actually, Jules wasn’t so sure about the length of this stop anymore because things had gotten quite intense during the first five days here. It’s been a wild ride already but the outcome was way more than she had expected when she stepped off the plane. Just thinking about how Al picked her up with some corndogs in the car made her stomach rumble in anticipation of the breakfast in the pan which was about to be finished soon.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve been dying to eat this delicious food since waking up to its amazing smell all over the house”, Alex said as she came down the stairs still in her pajamas, a white strappy top paired with extremely short grey panties and cute pink bunny slippers because her feet were always cold in the morning. JJ pulled Alex close, holding the frying pan in one hand and Morgan with the other. “I couldn’t stand being without you for too long, so I had to come up with a plan to wake you nicely and lure you downstairs”, the blonde explained while making puppy eyes. The teammate smirked, put both of her arms around Jules’ neck and kissed her favorite chef good morning passionately. The blonde almost dropped the pan because she went in for the extra long kiss a bit too hard. Feeling Al’s tongue on hers made the butterflies in her belly go nuts. Her heart eyes were obvious to Alex once they pulled apart, so JJ was able to finish cooking without further interruptions.

During their first breakfast as something more than friends, Julie reminded the forward, “Don’t forget about Chris and Toby today. We have to get ready in time, so they won’t have to wait too long.” Then she took a huge bite from her pancake with chocolate sauce all over it, making sure not to spill it all on her dark shirt. Alex didn’t reply for a while, so JJ looked at her worried. “Alright, you don’t have a clue. I know that puzzled face.” She opened the text messages on her iPhone, laying it on the table next to Al’s food for her to see. This was Ertz’s exchange with Christen Press, about when she’d be arriving today with her girlfriend Tobin. Julie was looking forward to reconnecting with them after they’d last seen each other during her stay at Press’ where she had started her self-discovery trip. _So much has changed since I parted with them in December last year._

Her eyes went from her meal back to Alex who was pretty creeped out by the thought of having friends over all of a sudden. “Lex, you alright?” Morgan nodded, completely lost in her thoughts. “Babes, answer me please. What’s on your mind?”, Julie insistently asked again. “It’s no big deal, really. I was just wondering how we should behave while they’re around.” Julie suppressed her laughter because that was the last thing she would’ve thought about now but it was cute that Alex did.

“Don’t worry about that. We have no idea what we are or want to be right now and that’s fine. They’re the last ones who’d bother us about it”, the midfielder explained calmingly. This made the brunette smile because suddenly she knew it was stupid to worry about anything as long as Jules was accompanying her. “I hope you know that I like me better when I’m with you”, Morgan said, resting her head on JJ’s shoulder, getting a kiss on the head for the compliment. Julie’s heart was so full of joy and pride by these nice words. “Just be yourself, Lex. That’s what you can do best”, Jules stated with a smile on her face that Al wasn’t able to see from her angle.

There was a very long way to happiness but the two of them were willing to go all the way…


	5. Signs of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobin and Christen have arrived finally!  
But how do the two lovebirds affect Alex and Julie now?  
We'll see in chapter 5...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the subs, kudos and hits! It's very appreciated!
> 
> “I question if I should feel  
Quite the way I feel  
And I question if things would be right  
If I had never been in love with you
> 
> But that's not the case  
Though I wish it was  
And I know there was something I should've said  
That I just never ever thought of”

**Alex’s POV**

_You can do this. It’s not rocket science. Just go back in and be yourself. There’s absolutely nothing you have to hide from your friends,_ Alex told herself while she stared at her reflection in the mirror right in front of her. She had gone to the restroom about five minutes ago to regain focus. Being with the two lovebirds Tobin and Christen had been so much easier while her own marriage hadn’t crashed. Now she was caught somewhere in the middle between tearing up uncontrollably and looking at Julie like she’d be her personal savior. _You’ve got this. Don’t worry about stuff that your mind has made up out of anxiety. They’re your mates, not your enemies._

When the brunette forward left the bathroom finally, she heard Tobin poking fun at her girlfriend, “The yellow shorts might make me look weird as fuck but you can’t deny that you love looking at my legs while I’m wearing them. It’s similar to how much I’d enjoy seeing something more colorful on your hips, not these boring black panties, but they turn your cute butt into a snack.” As Alex moved closer, Julie smiled at her while the two guests laughed loudly about Heath’s definition of a nutritious snack. Then Christen turned around to give Al a friendly hug because she surely thought the host left them to cry about her broken marriage. Actually, Morgan liked that imaginary scenario better than the truth, so she welcomed the embrace, leaning her head against Chris’ for a moment.

“Come here. It’s heartbreaking to see you so sad”, Julie said, knowing very well what the real reason for her friend’s disappearance was but she just wanted her around now. It was obvious that the blonde couldn’t wrap her head around their complicated situation either and tried to cover her uncertainty with cuddles and secret kisses. Alex obeyed, sat down between JJ and Tobs, just to have both of them wrapping their arms around her tightly two seconds later. She could hear her heart breaking whenever someone got close to her these days. “We love you, no matter what”, Chris stated and threw herself onto the three of them to get a grip on the emotionally battered #13 too. “You’re total dorks but I also love you.”

A single tear rolled down Al’s cheek which Jules saw because her head was really close to the forward’s face in that group hug moment. It wasn’t hard to tell that seeing her so sad put the National Team’s toughest defender in pain. Her expression went from lightened up to completely shattered right away. Alex tried to free one hand from Christen and Tobin’s embrace to somehow connect with JJ but it was in vain. She couldn’t escape their tight hugs and she didn’t want to snub them by accidentally pushing them away, so she kept it all to herself, literally buried in her mates’ love but unable to reach the only one who fully understood her issues. Even though Julie won’t mind their separation for such a short amount of time, Alex felt kind of bad for hiding her emotions from Heath and Press deliberately. They would have never done such a thing. Still she knew right now wasn’t a great time for herself to open up to anybody, not even such close friends. She wasn’t stable enough to survive a pro and con discussion about if she and Julie should consider something more than friendship. It’d kill her. Maybe Jules too.

\---------------------------------------------

**Julie’s POV**  


“I like the silence this place offers”, Julie said, looking at the stars as Tobin and she sat on the wooden chairs outside on the terrace of Alex’s home. It was a beautiful, moonlit night with thousands of stars shining above the two soccer stars’ tiny heads. _Everything must seem so small from up there. I wonder if worries disappear once we experience viewing this planet from afar?_ Heath nodded in agreement with Jules’ previous comment, replying after having a sip of the beer in her hand, “It’s so peacefully quiet here, as if time was an illusion and we’d be perfectly fine if we sat here for the rest of our lives. But it didn’t seem like you wanted to enjoy silence back when you visited Chris and me at the beginning of your tour.”

She wasn’t wrong with this. Back then Julie desperately needed noises to keep her thoughts from creeping into her mind whenever she laid alone in a bed or on a couch. “You know, it’s hard to be alone with your mind yelling at you after a breakup. At that time I knew that the marriage had failed but without the deafening sounds all around I could’ve talked myself into going back to Zach eventually. That would’ve been a huge mistake from what I’ve seen so far.”

Tobin kept quiet for some time, clearly thinking about the blonde’s serious answer. It all made sense in a way, at least to Julie. Back when Zach and she had decided to call it quits after two years of marriage, she couldn’t imagine her life growing out of the darkness which came to fill all the voids her husband had left. For a month she couldn’t think about anything but how her life went downhill right after the World Cup victory and how ironic this was. A dark cloud had formed over her head and kept pouring down bad thoughts every day.

“I’ve never asked you this but how did you know you loved Christen? Wasn’t it strange to distinguish between loving her as the teammate who’s always around and understanding that it was true love?”, JJ wondered out of nowhere from Tobs’ point of view, leaving her puzzled for a second. The forward looked at her with both shock and admiration that she was able to ask such a heavy question this soon after her divorce. “Well, that’s a tough one… I didn’t know, I guess. You can never be sure but watching her play and how she didn’t flinch all the times I gave her the chance to. How Chris lost her mind every time someone knocked me over on the pitch, how I went nuts when she cancelled a night out in the pub with the girls. Of course, there was this one night, where we went home sharing a cab and she insisted on paying for both of us - everything changed that day.”

Julie was curious to know more about that specific date so she dared herself to ask, “What happened that day that changed everything?” The defender took a sip from her bottle casually so that her opposite wouldn’t notice how much she really wanted to get a proper answer. Heath threw her a look that could kill but knew something was in the air tonight, so she replied calmly with a big smile on her face as she went through the emotions from the memory again, “We were out with Kelley, Allie, Al and Moe that day, partying hard and had way more shots than our bodies were used to. We drank so much that for once Christen let go of her defense completely and told dirty jokes like a sailor. We were shocked but it was amazing and our bellies hurt from laughing. During the cab ride home, I knew my apartment was the first destination and I felt an urge to say something flirty but I couldn’t get any words out of my mouth…” Jules listened in awe, taking another sip but keeping her eyes locked on the storyteller.

“…But she looked so beautiful in her casual outfit with the tight leatherjacket she had opened after some drinks, probably because she couldn’t bear the heat in the pub. Then I opened the door of the car, unsure what to do or say to keep the night from ending, knowing I might never get another chance like that. I left the cab, heartbroken as you can imagine, waving goodbye and suddenly she asked the driver where the nearest restroom was. Thank god for her inability to drink! She wasn’t even able to keep it in until she would have arrived at her home because she was too drunk. So, I offered her to come up to my apartment and the cab guy was nice enough to wait for her. Let’s say he was really patient but eventually left after I ran back onto the streets and paid without Christen’s approval. She couldn’t leave and I’m glad she didn’t complain too much about it in the long run.”

Tobin’s smile lit up the whole garden and JJ felt completely lovestruck just from listening to the story. Some tears formed in her eyes, but she managed to shut them down by looking at the night sky for a while. “Honestly, this was the most amazing love story I’ve ever heard and believe me, I thought I’d heard all of them by now”, the blonde said, placing her hand on Heath’s arm to convey her sympathy, “You two are meant to be together and nobody can convince me otherwise.” The slender forward appreciated her words a lot and gave her another huge smile in return, wondering without looking at her teammate: “I didn’t mean to bother you with such a long story. You probably know a lot more about love than I do. Why did you ask me this? You’re way more experienced when it comes to long-term relationships.” Julie gazed at the bright stars above, cleared her throat and spoke softly, almost whispering to herself, “I’m really lost right now but all I can think about is how I have to be strong for Alex these days. Gosh, I want to be strong for her, I do. But I guess I’m about to do it for the wrong reasons…”

\---------------------------------------------

“It’s so kind of you to give us your room, Jules”, Christen said and hugged the blonde for the tenth time in a row. “You’re welcome. I’m the youngest so the couch is fine with me. Don’t worry about it.” The four women gave each other goodnight hugs, Press put a soft peck on Alex’s forehead to protect her from bad thoughts after her tragic breakup, then Tobs and Chris went to their guest room and left Al and JJ on their own for the first time since their arrival.

The brunette turned to her slightly smaller teammate and grabbed her by the hand to go up to her bedroom together, when Julie stopped without saying a word. Alex looked confused, kissed her opposite’s hand and asked, “Is anything wrong? We can take a snack with us if you want to. I know you’re all up for a midnight session with anything sugary.” JJ shook her head and tried to voice her thoughts in a way that wouldn’t hurt her friend more than it had to, “I think it might be a good idea if I slept on the couch today. Nothing is wrong, don’t get upset. I just really need to clear my head for once.”

Al’s expression went from true joy to utter panic in an instant, making Julie’s heart drop because she felt bad for saying it. Still she knew it would be for the best. Her head wasn’t working quite right lately, and she didn’t want to cause even more drama for her friend. Suddenly Morgan’s face became blank. The captain must’ve had some serious thoughts on her mind as well. Of course, she did. Julie wasn’t the only one who had woken up in the bed upstairs with someone by her side. The brunette was there too, mostly because she was the other half of the mess they had created.

Without even the slightest warning, Alex opened her mouth and spoke in a lot of silent panic, “I know why you want to stay down here and I’ve thought about this so many times in the past days that my head will explode if I don’t say it out loud now. Julie, you don’t have to protect me from you. I’m three fucking years older than you and I’ve handled my fair share of tricky situations before. I’m not going to break from your touch.” This statement hit home, making Jules tear up instantly. She didn’t mean to act all emotional now, but Al’s words were true and painful and completely honest all together. None of them was ready to have this conversation now in the middle of the night with their friends staying over only a few feet away. But Alex wouldn’t back down and Jules couldn’t leave for she had nowhere to go and actually knew it was about damn time…


	6. Favouritism Ain't My Thing But In This Situation I'd Be Glad To Make An Exception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will the conversation between Alex and Julie go on?  
Can Jules overcome her worries?  
Will Al shut her teammate / affair out?  
Find out now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Shut the light out  
Come in close  
Press against me and don't let go  
No more talkin', no more words  
We both know that they just don't work
> 
> I wanna be your only soldier  
I wanna set your world alight
> 
> Don't say you want me  
Don't say you need me  
Just stay, just stay  
Wherever we are, let's be young hearts in the dark”

**Julie’s POV**

Here they were, standing right next to each other. Alex’s expression looked serious but also quite frustrated. _“You don’t have to protect me from you… I’m not going to break from your touch”_, echoed in Julie’s ears even louder than the rushing of her own blood at this emotionally loaded moment. Tears were streaming down her rather angular-shaped face but Morgan somehow managed to keep herself together at least for now. They moved their upcoming discussion up to the balcony next to Alex’s bedroom because the thing they needed the least was unwanted attention by their two guests. A light breeze blew outside that dried JJ’s tears faster which was helpful because for some reason she had completely lost her cool. No matter how often she told herself to get it together, nothing seemed to work. She felt so helpless, an emotion she wasn’t used to because most of the time she was the one people relied on.

After a few short minutes of silence, Morgan took action and walked from the handrail she was leaning against to the wooden chair the blonde midfielder sat in. The forward kneeled down so she could see Ertz’s puffy, red eyes. “Will you listen to me for a moment please? I really can’t stand seeing you like this any longer”, Al said with as much calmness as she could muster, laying one hand on her opposite’s knee. JJ took a deeper breath than ever before, closed her eyes for two seconds and then looked in her affair’s beautiful eyes to listen closely, wiping her own drying tears so she wouldn’t look completely broken.

“I don’t want to see you cry and I get that you’re frustrated, creeped-out and can’t fathom everything because a lot has happened since you’ve arrived here. I didn’t mean to drag you into this but… actually there’s no one else I’d rather be in this together with than you. But you have to let me in. My head’s a mess and I can’t do this alone. Don’t shut me out, Julie”, Alex clarified with a shaky voice and tears streaming down her face by the end of the monologue.

Because of a lack of words, Jules leaned her forehead against the brunette’s and put her hands on Al’s shoulders. The forward’s breath warmed Julie’s lips as their mouths were only a few inches apart. “I’ll get better. I promise. Didn’t mean to shut you out. There’s nothing I’d have wanted less actually. It’s just really new to me to be this close to one of my dearest friends. I don’t want to fuck it up. It’d kill me”, Ertz replied while holding back even more tears. “You can’t die. I’d be lost without you and…” “Just kiss me already”, JJ interrupted her opposite without hesitation because it felt so right in this moment.

Alex smiled and happily obeyed with a tender kiss to calm her shaking lips. The blonde pulled her closer and turned it into a lustful French kiss in an instant. Julie’s head felt cleansed after letting it all out, every issue that had bothered her since arriving in Winter Park without even the slightest intention to revive an affair, let alone get so used to Alex’s presence that it became her new favorite addiction. Maybe this time destiny would go easy on Julie as payback for the misery with Zach. Of course, she was still worried about how all of this would play out in the end but now that Alex’s lips were caressing hers, she didn’t mind pushing these doubts away a little longer.

Suddenly, their make out session under the night sky got interrupted by a creepy noise coming from below the balcony. They let go of one another and Al wondered, “What the heck? Did you hear that?” “I’m not deaf, so yes, I couldn’t help but notice it. It seemed to come from somewhere in the garden, didn’t it?” Both women tiptoed over to the handrail, trying to keep their breathing as quiet as possible. JJ’s heartrate went up immediately and she was definitely ready to fight whatever monster’s battle cry they had been witnessing. Morgan slowly peeked over the balustrade, holding onto it for safety as she didn’t know what she might discover down there. Jules did exactly the same thing with one eye on her mate to keep her safe.

Once their two heads peeked down into the garden and the terrace where Julie had been sitting with Tobin earlier tonight, there was absolutely nothing suspicious to see. The garden furniture was still in place, no animals or human intruders were in sight and everything seemed to be fine. Even the weird noise didn’t reappear. Morgan gave her lover a puzzled look and asked, “Are we getting paranoid?” Julie simply shrugged her shoulders and shook her head in disbelief.

As Al pulled JJ closer to her to continue where they have left off, another scary noise appeared even louder than the last time and frightened the two women again. Alex tried to whisper something, but Jules put a finger on her mouth and looked over the handrail only a few seconds after the sound went quiet. She checked every corner of the garden from above but still couldn’t find anything extraordinary. “Where the hell is this coming from?”, Morgan wondered while looking down on the terrace, too. Ertz leaned over the rail as far as she could and replied, “I have no idea, but that’s freaking scary and it has to stop.”

“Tobiiiiin”, was moaned loudly from a tilted window directly underneath the balcony. The whole situation got a lot funnier now that they knew where the noises came from and both women couldn’t keep themselves from giggling. “Gosh, someone’s guests are really going all the way tonight”, JJ stated the obvious, then covered her belly with one hand because she was about to die of laughing too hard. It took a minute for Morgan to pull herself together but then she grabbed the broom nearby which is used to clean the balcony from any kind of foliage. The brunette used it to reach down to the partly opened window and knock against it to get her guest’s attention. A shocked “fuck, I told you to keep quiet” made its way to the balcony and happened to make Julie laugh so hard that she couldn’t stop crying.

A lot of swearing happened in the room underneath their feet until the window was fully opened and Christen’s head became visible. She peeked outside, then looked up and apologized, almost unable to keep her cool, “Sorry guys. We didn’t mean to disturb you.” “She meant to do exactly that, I tell ya”, Julie said smiling while pointing to the brunette forward right next to her. Suddenly Tobin’s face showed up, too. “My bad, girls. Put the blame on me”, Tobs yelled and got a hard hit on the arm by her girlfriend in response. All four of them laughed about the weird situation, then Ertz ordered, “You may proceed now, ladies.” Heath saluted, then the guests closed the window and weren’t heard for the rest of the night or at least Jules and Al didn’t hear any noises apart from their own smooching anymore.

\---------------------------------------------------

Julie woke up when someone knocked on the door of the master bedroom. “JJ, can I come in? It’s Christen.” The blonde turned around and reached for Alex’s body but only felt empty sheets which weren’t even warm anymore. Her lover must’ve gotten up quite some time ago. Jules pulled up the blanket over her unclothed chest and answered, “Yeah, come in.” Press entered the room, walked over to the bed and put a hot cup of steaming coffee right next to Ertz’s head. “Good morning, sleepyhead.” Julie took a close look at Christen’s watch when the teammate sat down on her bedside. “It’s only 10:30 am. This sleepyhead right here likes resting at least one hour longer.” Chris smiled softly and agreed with a nod because she knew Ertz’s habits from all the camps they’d been at together. “I wouldn’t wake you if it wasn’t necessary.”

There was a serious tone in Press’ voice which gave Jules the chills. It was way too early on a day off so it had to be an emergency. “Where are Alex and Tobin?” Jules had a bad feeling about this and wanted to get it over with. The black-haired forward sighed, placed her hand on JJ’s arm above the blanket and replied, “Something has happened but please don’t get upset, they’re both healthy. They just need to get some tests run on Al.” Johnston sat upright instantly, completely shocked by the news. “What kind of tests? What happened? Talk to me, Christen!” The tension was unbearable and Press knew she had to say something because Julie sure as hell wouldn’t stop asking questions. “I’ll tell you everything I know but you have to get dressed. I’ll meet you downstairs once you’re finished.”

Given the little information, Ertz met her teammate in the living room less than ten minutes later. She was too worried to sit still so she chose to stand with her arms crossed right next to Chris who sat on the couch and clearly tried to look calm. “You know I love you but if you make me wait any longer, I’m going to punch you in your pretty face”, Julie threatened, unable to stop moving from one leg to the other. “Don’t you raise your fists at me. Now sit down or I won’t say a damn thing!”, Christen ordered with a raised voice. Very unusual for the peaceful forward. Johnston obeyed and found herself the nearest spot on the sofa.

“Thank you very much. See, Alex told me to wake you once it’s past 10 am because she didn’t want to leave you out because it might make you angry or sad. Bad news is that Morgan kept something to herself for a bit of time which she should’ve talked about, at least with you.” Jules had absolutely no clue what this whole fuss was about, but she felt a headache coming just by listening to Christen’s propitiating words. Nevertheless, she listened closely and hoped it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. “I don’t want to get any dates wrong so I’ll stick to the only thing I know. Let me start by saying that Tobin and Alex went to the gynecologist…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading through chapter 6! I hope you enjoyed it!  
Please leave kudos, comments and feel free to subscribe to get notified about any new chapters...
> 
> Check out the fanfic series linked below if you want to read what some of JJ's and Alex's USWNT teammates are doing in the meantime!


	7. Disarray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Julie's bad morning turn into an absolute nightmare or is there some hope left for a more peaceful rest of the day?  
Find out in chapter 7 now!
> 
> [This chapter is slightly shorter than usual but I really wanted to give you guys an update. Thanks for all your lovely support!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I can see it your eyes you're hurting  
But pain is part of learning who you are  
All these truths can sometimes be deceiving  
When your whole world comes crashing to the ground
> 
> You know I can't be like everybody  
Cause I can't tell you what you want to hear  
I don't know if I can make it better  
All I know is I will be around”

** _Alex’s POV_ **

The drive home from the gynecologist took about an hour because of the traffic jam in Winter Park around lunch time. Everyone seemed to be out on the streets, making Alex’s life so much harder than it already was. Tobin drove calmly which Al was very thankful for, especially because Heath was the type of quiet friend she needed in this moment. As the slender forward pulled up in the driveway, Alex’s heart pumped so much blood through her system that she thought she might have to run a few miles before she would be able to get into her own home and face the chaos she had created, even though she knew there wasn’t any time left to waste. Nothing would stop the upcoming conflict from happening. She didn’t feel ready to have a debate about anything right now but she had it coming and wouldn’t run away now. Not anymore.

Before they went inside, Tobin took a moment to stop Al in her steps and hug her tightly. “It’s gonna be alright. You’re not alone and never will be”, she whispered and petted her friend’s back comfortingly. “I know. Thank you, Toby.” This gave Alex a great feeling of support and truly made the day less shitty. Having awesome friends was worth so much to her and a slight smile came up on the face which had looked tormented prior to their hug.

They went inside to join Christen and Ertz, just to find Julie standing in the middle of the living space with her arms crossed and a serious look. No sign of Press anywhere, so Tobin decided to look for her significant other on her own to give the other two women some privacy. Morgan gathered all her bravery and went over to the upset Julie, laid her hands on the blonde’s crossed arms and explained nervously, “I’m sorry I didn’t mention my suspicion sooner and I’m sorry you’re angry now because I’m a coward. Would you mind listening to me for some more minutes before you storm out and never look back?” For a second JJ’s facial expression was impossible to read.

Al held her breath, not letting go of her opposite’s arms and running her thumbs over Jules’s soft skin constantly. “You may be a coward but I ain’t. I promised to let you in, so here I am”, Ertz replied instantly with an increasing forgiving tone in her voice. This helped Morgan to relax a little and feel more comfortable in her difficult situation. “It wasn’t okay to force you to be open and honest while I kept this huge secret myself. Truth is, today I got the confirmation that I am pregnant. I have absolutely no idea how to proceed with everything but I want you to know that whatever your take is on this, it’s fine with me. Just please be so kind and let me in on your thoughts if that’s not too much to ask.”

After some painfully long seconds, Julie wrapped her arms around the brunette teammate and held her closer than ever. Al pressed her head against Jules’s neck to hide some tears of joy. It felt so good to have the blonde in her arms again and smell her warm skin after this troublesome morning. JJ tenderly caressed her lover’s back, took a deep breath and whispered, “I’m really mad at you for keeping this from me as your friend, not as the one you shared a bed with, but I won’t turn my back on you. I won’t ever do such a thing, remember that.” This promise made Alex’s heart drop because of the overwhelming happiness rising in her chest. Suddenly her problems seemed to have become negligibly small.

\-----------------------------------------------  
**_Julie’s POV_**

“I can’t believe you’re gonna become mommy Morgan this year! That’s the best surprise of 2020 and it’s only February!”, Christen yelled joyfully all through the house even though all four women sat on the couch right next to each other. A little smile rose on Alex’s face and even though Julie wasn’t completely sure how to feel about the pregnancy, she couldn’t help but smile too. The happiness was simply too overwhelming to stay mad all evening and a new human being shouldn’t be the reason for arguments and conflicts, at least not in JJ’s opinion. There were many things the two of them would have to figure out anytime in the near future but none of them were difficult enough to keep them from celebrating today.

“This has been the toughest month of my life. I can’t even comprehend everything that’s happened so far. First Jules came to visit my husband and me for some weeks because we wanted to talk about her and Zach’s divorce, then those days became a struggle because I had to deal with my feelings for her while Servando was present and tried his very best to keep our marriage alive. Suddenly everything changed when we found out he had cheated on me again just hours ago. The sky came falling down and I lost my mind. Afterwards I made Johnston freak out because she didn’t see any of it coming either but somehow we decided to give it a try and pave the way for a relationship. Now we’re here, unable to grasp any of it but deep inside I know that everything’s going to be alright”, Alex recapped the past days perfectly by giving the blonde midfielder goosebumps.

Christen squeaked happily, jumped on Al and hugged her tightly. She wasn’t able to hold all of the excitement in and Tobin looked as if she felt exactly the same with a bright smile on her tan face. As soon as Chris let go of Morgan, Julie grabbed the brunette’s hand, looked into her eyes and said, “I have not even the slightest clue how to deal with all of this but I believe it’s destiny and I won’t back down. You deserve the best and if I have to go through tough times to give it to you, then so be it.” Press’s eyes teared up instantly and the same happened to Al just seconds later. Even Tobs looked a bit choked up witnessing the strong commitment that was happening here. There wasn’t a need for more words now, so all four of them went in for a long group hug and simply cherished the moment. Julie’s heart was full of joy and even though she knew very well that the upcoming months won’t be easy or predictable at all, she was as ready as possible to go all in for the relationship she wanted more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed a slightly shorter chapter 7!  
Please leave kudos, comments and feel free to subscribe to get notified about any new chapters <3
> 
> Check out the fanfic series linked below if you want to read what some of JJ's and Alex's USWNT teammates are doing in the meantime!


End file.
